Alert archive / Ohio / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Wilmington, OH

May 7, 1998Greene County, Ohio

NWS Wilmington, OH issued this tornado warning at May 7, 1998, 8:15 PM EDT for Greene County, Ohio. It was in force for 50 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 7, 1998, 8:15 PM EDT (00:15 UTC)
Expired: May 7, 1998, 9:05 PM EDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Wilmington, OH
Area: Whole counties

County Greene County, OH

The radar

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:18 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 7, 8:35 PM EDT	Tornado F0	Xenia, OH	A tornado briefly touched down ripping a roof off a home and knocking down numerous trees.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 30 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 224 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 556 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 190 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 202 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

637 
WFUS01 KILN 080017 RRA
TORILN
OHC057-080105-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
815 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  GREENE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL OHIO.

* EFFECTIVE UNTIL 905 PM EDT.

* AT 813 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A DEVELOPING TORNADO IN THE VICINITY OF XENIA MOVING EAST AT 30
  MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...
        WILBERFORCE             BY 816 PM EDT..
        CEDARVILLE              BY 824 PM EDT..

* THIS TORNADO WILL BE SHORT LIVED AND WILL AFFECT A VERY SMALL
AREA. HOWEVER...EVEN SMALL TORNADOES CAN PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE.



IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SAFETY IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING.
AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK REFUGE IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND
COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Wilmington, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 7, 2:10 PM EDT, 6 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 7, 2:10 PM EDT, 6 hours 5 minutes before

FORECAST COORDINATION MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
210 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998

SFC/UPR LO CONTS TO MV SLOWLY ACRS REGION. RAIN LOOKS LIKELY AT LEAST
THRU THE OVRNITE HRS AND PROBABLY INTO FRI/EARLY FRI NITE. INSTAB
REMAINS MARGINAL. BY SAT AM...DPVA MVNG OUT AND SHUD SET STAGE FOR SCT
PCPN DURING THE DAY ON SAT. OTHERWISE...CLDY THRU THE FCST PD. NOT MUCH
DIURNAL RANGE IN TEMPS UNTIL SAT. HEAVIEST RAINFALL SHUD BE MVNG OUT
THIS EVE...W/ LIGHTER AMTS OVRNITE AND FRI. SO IF WE CAN MAKE IT TIL
TNT...SHUD BE NO NEED FOR FFA...ALTHO CLOSE TO FFG VALUES. NO PROBLEMS
RPTD AS OF YET. WILL STICK CLOSER TO COLDER FAN GUID VALUES IN CLD CVR
AND RAIN (XPCT NITETIME LOWS).

CVG 058/065 054/071 ++43
CMH 058/063 055/070 ++73
DAY 058/064 053/067 ++43

FARINA

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wilmington, OH issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 7, 9:02 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	ILN	Clark	2 hr
May 7, 9:59 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	ILN	Greene	2 hr
May 7, 10:07 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	ILN	Clark	3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Ohio, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes in 1998

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.